What College Board Doesn't Tell You: 5 Secrets?
1: Read the prompt before the passage.Why? Because the prompt offer explains the author's claim. Knowing the author's claim before reading the article will help you stay focused on the argument rather than becoming distracted by the paragraph.
2: Make sure your facts are correct.
The Analysis score for the SAT essay includes not just recognizing the techniques used by the author to create her argument, but also explaining the effect that these tactics have on the reader. There is no one correct response, therefore you do not have to be exact regarding the passage's effect on the reader. You should be OK as long as your explanation is compelling and includes concrete instances.
Here's an example of an interpretation regarding how a persuasive device affects the reader (supported by evidence from the passage):
Lindsay taps into her readers' emotions by depicting the sad, many-eyed creatures staring reproachfully at her from the margins of old school notebooks.
Lindsay expertly transfers the readers' sympathy for these forgotten doodles to herself when she draws a parallel between the drawn monsters and her own life: "Often, I feel like one of these monsters—hidden away in my studio, brushes yearning to create what no one else cares to see."
Now, you're not sure if "sympathy for the doodles" was the author's intention with her line. The SAT essay graders are unlikely to know either (unless they created the paragraph). However, as long as you can make a convincing argument for your interpretation, supported by facts and quotes from the chapter, you'll be OK.
3: Write more than one page.
This has always been true for the SAT essay, but for the first time, the College Board specifically stated in The Official SAT Study Guide that length matters. Here's an example of a one-paragraph, 120-word student answer with a Writing score of 2/8 (my emphasis).
"Due to the brief nature of the response, there is insufficient evidence of writing ability to warrant a score higher than one." Overall, this comment is inadequately written."
You will be given one page of (ungraded) scrap paper to plan out your essay, as well as four pages of writing paper for the essay—plan on writing at least two pages.
4: Be objective while reading the passage.
It might be difficult to maintain a dispassionate attitude when reading the paragraph on which you will base your essay. This problem may be particularly tough for students who were used to the traditional SAT essay (which required you to select one side or the other). You will need to practice reading persuasive essays and developing impartiality (so that you can write about how the argument is built rather than whether it is excellent or terrible).
An excellent method to do this is to read news stories on themes that are important to you written by individuals who disagree with you. For example, as a composer and violist/violinist, I could read articles about how youngsters should not be encouraged to play musical instruments since they have little practical purpose later in life (a viewpoint with which I strongly disagree). I would next practice impartiality by noting down the major concepts, the most essential details, and how these details relate to the article's central themes.
The ability to absorb the passage's essential concepts and details without being distracted by wrath (or other emotions) is critical to producing an excellent SAT essay.
5: Memorize and identify certain persuasion techniques.
Once you've mastered reading articles objectively (as described in point #4 above), the next stage is to be able to dissect the essay passage's thesis. To do this successfully, you must be aware of some of the approaches commonly used to construct arguments. You can check SAT Courses in Singapore by Masterclass Space.
The SAT essay prompt mentions a handful of these strategies (bolded mine):
As you read the following excerpt, examine how Lindsay employs
Claims can be supported with evidence such as facts or instances.
Reasoning helps to build ideas and link claims with evidence.
Word choice or emotional appeals are examples of stylistic or persuasive aspects that lend strength to the ideas communicated.
It is entirely feasible to wing it and walk into the test without knowing the names of certain persuasive methods, instead building your essay organically from aspects you observe in the article. However, it is far simpler to approach the essay knowing specific tactics that you can then examine the paragraph for.
For example, after noting the main ideas and key information in the article about how more works of art should include monsters, I would analyze how the author constructed her case. Is she using statistics in her article? Any personal anecdotes? Appeal to emotions?
In my post "6 SAT Essay Examples to Answer Every Prompt," I go into further depth on the top persuasive strategies you should be aware of.
How to Get All the Needed Components in 50 Minutes: 5 Step-by-Step Strategies
When writing a SAT essay, you only have 50 minutes to read, evaluate, and write, so you need to have a game plan. Here's a quick step-by-step strategy for writing an excellent SAT essay.
1: Answer the Prompt.
Don't merely summarize the section in your essay or highlight the author's persuasive methods; instead, study how the author constructs her case. As the Official SAT Study Guide says,
"[Y]our discussion should focus on what the author does, why he or she does it, and what effect this is likely to have on readers."
The College Board emphasizes this topic in its grading criteria as well: an essay scoring a 2 (out of 4) or worse in Analysis "merely asserts, rather than explains [the persuasive devices'] importance." If you want to obtain at least a 3/4 (or a 6/8) in Analysis, you must follow my advice and keep on track.
2: Support your points with concrete evidence from the passage.
The greatest method to achieve a good Reading grade on your essay is to properly quote from the material to support your ideas. This demonstrates not just that you read the text (without needing to describe it), but also that you comprehend what the author is saying and how the author structured her argument.
Instead of utilizing actual quotations from the passage, you might paraphrase part of what you discuss. If you are expressing the author's thesis in your own words, you must be especially careful to ensure that the facts you are providing are correct—in contrast to scoring on the previous SAT essay, scoring on the new SAT essay considers factual mistakes and penalizes you accordingly.
3: Keep your essay organized.
The criteria for the SAT essay reads as follows: "The response demonstrates a deliberate and highly effective progression of ideas both within paragraphs and throughout the essay."
The major takeaway from this is that you should adhere to the typical SAT essay structure introduction. Using a simple four- to five-paragraph essay style can keep you organized while also making it easy for essay assessors to understand your reasoning—a win-win situation!
Furthermore, use excellent transitions to link each paragraph. We'll show you how to increase your performance in this area in the articles listed at the bottom of this page.
4: Schedule time to read, analyze, plan, write, and revise.
Make sure you set aside enough time for each of the stages you'll need to take to compose the essay—50 minutes may appear to be a long time, but it passes by quickly when you consider all you need to complete.
5: Practice.
The more you practice analyzing and writing, the better you will get at writing an SAT essay (as you build up to it gradually).
If you are a slow reader, it is especially crucial to practice the essay's analytical and writing components. Being able to evaluate and write rapidly might help balance off the additional time.
Furthermore, the time you invest in writing and analysis will pay The extra time it takes to read and understand the content might be offset by your ability to evaluate and write rapidly. You will also get more out of your time spent focusing on writing and analysis than you will from attempting to read faster.
Further information on applying to universities, course counseling, and SAT Courses in Singapore may be found on our website, www.masterclassspace.com, or by sending an email to info@masterclassspace.com.
